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Afghan Growth Predicted at 3.5%

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its revised regional economic outlook for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP) has predicted Afghanistan’s economic growth rate to overtake Pakistan’s in 2016, Wadsam reported. Afghanistan’s economic growth rate is projected at 3.5% in 2015 fiscal year. For 2016 fiscal year, Afghanistan’s growth rate is predicted to increase to 4.9% while Pakistan’s has been projected to be 4.7%. Regionally, the report expected inflation to reach 6.9 percent and 6.5 percent in 2015 and 2016, respectively. A modest recovery is expected to continue in the MENAP region, despite a slump in oil prices, raging regional conflicts, and lingering uncertainty over the post-Arab Spring transitions, the report revealed. Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani said he plans to devote at least 30 percent of his time to his country’s battered economy. “The fundamental thing that’s going to transform this country is not aid; it’s trade and investment,” Ghani said in Kabul Monday.